


After Image

by starr234



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Darth Vader's A+ parenting, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, luke skywalker has a bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:38:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starr234/pseuds/starr234
Summary: Luke escapes Vader, but not really.





	After Image

Luke escapes, barely.

He jumps, manages not to die, clings to a weathervane alone above an entire planet, and is finally saved by Leia and whisked away by the _Falcon_ , where Artoo saves all of their skins again. And just like that, Vader is gone.

But as the weeks go by, Luke finds him over and over again, in the strangest places. A word, a look, a sound, and he can feel the rumble of Vader’s voice in his bones, the sear of a blade across his wrist, the shadowed memory of a dark presence wrapping fiercely around his heart.

Vader is everywhere he looks, even when he’s not looking.

He’s there when a new cadet asks if it’s true that Luke’s father was a famous Jedi, black-gloved hand outstretched and demanding.

He’s there when Leia’s eyes go distant and sad and Luke knows she’s thinking about Han.

He’s there in the smell of coolant, the scrape of metal on metal, the flicker of red lights in a darkened corridor.

He’s there in the twist of nausea Luke feels when he looks out at the stars and wonders _how long_ and hears the stars answer back _soon_.

He’s there in the corner of Luke’s eye, always there, watching, waiting.

He’s there in Luke’s nightmares and Luke’s dreams, where Luke _does not_ want him.

Somehow, some way, he is there in Luke’s heart. Perhaps he will stay there forever.

Luke escapes, but not really. Not in the ways that matter.

**Author's Note:**

> hey I have a tumblr http://starr234.tumblr.com


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